“SOMEONE NEEDS TO sit with Brooke,” Dan said to Wyatt. Her hands had been too cold. Her eyes too glassy. Her skin too pale. He’d hated to leave her. Hated to walk away. But Ben needed him.
His name echoed into the hall. Dan and Wyatt turned. A frantic Valerie rushed toward them. His dad and his brother close behind. Dan searched the waiting area. Brooke’s chair was empty.
A scream built inside him. He wanted to call out Brooke’s name.
Valerie launched herself into Dan’s arms. But he wanted Brooke. In his arms. Beside him. With him.
His dad would find her. Jason, too. Dan started toward his brother.
A hand landed on his arm. A nurse smiled at him. “Mr. Sawyer, your son is asking for you.”
Ben. Dan had to get to his son. Ben was his priority. Always.
Dan knew then that Brooke was gone. As it should be. He only had room for one.
He’d had to choose. It was Ben. Every time. Dan turned to follow the nurse.
Wyatt stepped in front of Valerie. “Just his father for now. We don’t want too many visitors at once to add additional stress.”
Valerie lifted her chin. “I’m his mother.”
And yet like Dan, Ben preferred Brooke.
“And you’ll have a chance to see him.” Wyatt asked a nurse to show the family to the waiting area.
Dan scrubbed his hands over his face.
Wyatt squeezed his shoulder. “The doctors want Ben to stay the night. Make sure numbers are stable. And watch his head.”
Dan glanced at Wyatt. “Did he really ask only for me?”
Wyatt shook his head. “Ben wanted you and Brooke.”
That resonated with Dan. He wanted Brooke, too. “Does Ben know his mom is here?”
Wyatt nodded. “Said he could hear her in the hall.”
Dan wiped his hands over his face again. His son was safe, but things were not right in his world. Would Ben hurt, too, when he found out Brooke was gone? “You’re sure Ben is good?”
“It’s only protocol. A twenty-four-hour watch for any concussions.” Wyatt opened the door to Ben’s room. “And yes, he’s going to be fine.”
“I’ll stay with him,” Dan said.
“Never doubted it.” Wyatt adjusted the stethoscope around his neck. “They’re getting a room ready now. I’ll be up to check on you guys after my shift ends.”
Wyatt walked away and called back to Dan, “I’ll check on Brooke, too.”
Dan only nodded. Wyatt couldn’t help her. He’d realize that soon enough. Dan wanted someone to bring Brooke up to Ben’s room. To bring them back together. But he knew deep inside his cracked heart that it wasn’t going to happen. Only Dan could get Brooke back. But he’d made his choice. He’d had to. Ben came first.
Dan stepped into the room, sat on Ben’s bed and wrapped his son in his arms. His love for Ben seeped through those cracks in his heart.
Ben flopped on the bed and crossed his arms over his chest. “Dr. Wyatt says I need to stay tonight.”
“You hit your head pretty hard.” Dan set his hand on Ben’s chin and tipped his head to scan Ben’s forehead for the contusion. A bandage already covered the stitches. And blackness started settling into the skin around his eye.
Ben scowled but let Dan gently move his head around. “You always tell me that I have a hard head.”
“Fortunately, your head was a challenge for the cement.” Dan leaned away to look at Ben. “But the pavement still won.”
Ben turned the plastic medical band around his wrist. “It’s only one night, right?”
“That’s the plan, but—” Dan began.
“But we have to listen to the doctor,” Ben interrupted and let out a long and profound sigh. The kind of sigh any well-seasoned ten-year-old perfected to inform their parents of their true feelings. “I know. Can we at least get ice cream?”
“I’ll see if Grandpa can get some for us.” Dan arranged the blankets over Ben’s legs.
“Then you’re staying the night, too.”
“Absolutely.” Dan never wanted Ben to doubt that. To doubt that he wouldn’t be there for him.
Ben’s shoulders relaxed into the bed and stretched his legs out. “What about Brooke?”
Dan had lost her. Maybe he never had her. Maybe this was for the better. Why didn’t he feel better, though? Why did he feel like that car had stolen something from him? “Brooke had to go and check on the animals.”
“Rex is probably pacing around, waiting to use the bathroom, and Cupid is biting Rex’s tail as he paces by the couch.” Ben grinned. “Rex can’t stop pacing until he goes. And we’ve been gone a really long time.”
Brooke would be gone even longer. Indefinitely. Dan shoved aside that thought. Tonight was about Ben. His son and his family. “Your grandpa, uncle and Valerie are waiting to see you. Grandma Lulu is on her way, too.”
“Grandma Lulu is home?” Ben cheered up.
Finally. Luann had texted while they were at the farmers market. Just before the accident. He’d texted her on his way to the hospital to tell her about Ben. She’d replied: On my way.
Dan’s support team would surround him and Ben. But who was going to support Brooke? Who was going to take care of her? Dan stood up. “Can I let your mom and the others in?”
Ben nodded.
Ten minutes later, Dan slipped out to the waiting area and let Ben soak up the attention from his grandpa and uncle.
“Dan.”
The familiar voice turned him around. He opened his arms and welcomed Luann Bennett’s hug.
Luann rubbed his back, then wiped at her eyes. “Ben is good? You’re good?”
Dan nodded. He would be, but that was for later. “Ben is detailing the accident to my dad and brother.”
Luann touched the gold necklace around her neck. Dan had never seen her without it. “Valerie is here, too?”
“Hello, Mother.” Valerie stepped into the waiting area.
And for the first time since he’d known both women, they skipped over the welcoming embrace. Dan shifted his gaze from one to the other.
“Should I welcome you back home or wish you well on your upcoming travels?” Luann asked. Her fingers remained on her necklace as if the gold gave her strength.
“Have you reconsidered your intentions?” Valerie countered.
Luann’s smile was slight. “I’m assuming you explained to Dan why you came home.”
“To spend time with my son,” Valerie said.
“And challenge for partial custody,” Dan added. He wanted to know what was really going on with Valerie. Now that Luann was here, he wanted answers. If those had to come out in the hospital waiting area, so be it.
“That’s a bold move, Valerie.” Luann set her purse on a chair. “What did you hope to prove to me?”
To Luann? Partial custody was about proving to Dan that she wanted to get to know Ben. That she wanted him in her life. That she could be trusted to take care of her own son. Except she’d dropped the ball with him the one night she could’ve proven she’d changed.
“That should be obvious.” Valerie set her hands on her hips.
“Why don’t you explain it?” Dan said. His brother stepped into the room behind Valerie and crossed his arms over his chest.
“It’s a family matter,” Valerie countered.
“We’re all family here.” Jason stepped around a chair and faced her.
“I made some changes to my will,” Luann said. “Valerie doesn’t approve.”
“I’m your only heir.” Valerie closed the distance. Her voice low. “I should inherit what my father built.”
Luann unfastened her gold necklace and handed it to Valerie. “This is what your father left behind in the estate. You can have it.”
Valerie refused to take the necklace. “There was more.”
“Debt. And more debt,” Luann said. “Why do you think I worked for twenty years? Why do you think I extended my retirement more than once?”
“I had a trust fund,” Valerie said.
“That I never touched.” Luann spoke with pride in her voice. “Not one penny. Your father left that for you. Now I’m leaving my estate and my assets to my grandson.”
Dan’s mouth dropped open. Ben. Ben was Luann’s heir.
“What am I supposed to do?” Valerie asked.
“You have a trust fund.” Jason tipped his head at her.
“Had.” Valerie’s hands fisted at her sides.
“You spent all of your trust fund?” Dan asked. How was that possible?
“She’s been relying on my goodwill and my bank account.” Jason rubbed his hand over his mouth as if to remove a bad taste. “Now it makes sense. We never made sense. But this does.”
“Everything would’ve been fine if mother made me an executor.” Valerie reached for Jason.
He stepped away, his tone appalled. “You were going to steal from your own son?”
Who does that? Dan noticed the desperation in Valerie’s wide gaze. “Is that why you wanted partial custody?”
“I think I get it.” Luann set her hand on Dan’s arm. “If you trusted Valerie with partial custody of Ben, then I would have to trust her as the executor.”
“Except I never agreed to partial custody,” Dan said. Nor would he ever. He’d take that battle to court every time.
“And I never removed you as the executor of my will,” Luann said.
Dan looked at her. “Me?”
“If you agree.” Luann smiled at him. “But now I want to see my grandson for myself.”
“What am I supposed to do?” Valerie stopped her mother as she walked by.
“Do what we—Dan, Jason and myself—all had to do.” Luann straightened and cupped her daughter’s cheek. “Get a job and become an adult.”
Luann walked down the hall and disappeared around the corner.
Valerie adjusted her purse on her shoulder and eyed Dan and Jason. “I always hated hospitals.”
With that she strode toward the elevators and left. Again.
Dan nodded to Jason. Together, the brothers returned to Ben’s room and their family.